Float valve and strainer



Feb. 21, 1961 S. A. LUNDEEN FLOAT VALVE AND STRAINER Original FiledMarch 25, 1955 INVENTOR. .STANLEYALUNDEEN &

United States Patent 2,972,412 v FLOAT VALVE AND STRAINER Stanley A.Lundeen, 2946 Stinson Blvd., Minneapolis, Minn.

Original application Mar. 25, 1955, Ser. No. 496,802,

now Patent No. 2,902,155, dated Sept. 1, 1959. Divided and thisapplication'June 19, 1958, Ser. No. 743,066

6 Claims. (Cl. 210123) This application relates to a new and improvedfloat valve and strainer. More particularly, this invention relates toafloat valve and brine strainer for use in a water softening system. i

This application is a division of my co-pending application Serial No.496,802, for Automatic Water Softening System filed March 25, 1955, nowPatent No. 2,902,- 155 issued September 1, 1959.

As is well known, hard water contains principally dissolved calcium andmagnesium salts; It is well known to soften hard water by passing itthrough an ion exchange material. In the course of its passage'throughthe ion exchange material, calcium and magnesiurnfions in the water arereplaced by other metallic ions, such as sodium, which produce morereadily soluble salts. After a period of time depending upon the volumeof Water passed through the bed of ion exchange material and its degreeof hardness, the mineral bed becomes spent and loses its capacity tofurther soften the water. When this occurs, or preferably, a short timebefore this occurs, it is normal practice to regenerate or revitalizethe bed of water softening mineral by contacting it with a brinesolution.

In automatic and semi-automatic water softening systems it is the usualpractice to accomplish regeneration.

No. 496,802, this is normally accomplished by passing a stream of freshwater through a venturi tube whose throat is connected with the bottomof the brine storage tank.

It will be readily seen that unless some means is provided to preventit, when all of the brine has been withdrawn from the brine storagetank, air will be drawn by the venturi and passed into the watersoftening tank. This is objectionable for a number of reasons, as willbe recognized by those skilled in the art.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a quick-actingfloat valve means for use in the brine storage tank of an automatic orsemi-automatic water softening system which will immediately be closedupon withdrawal of brine from the storage tank to prevent air beingdrawn into the system.

It is a further object of this invention to provide float valve meanswhich will at the same time strain out silt, sediment, undissolved saltparticles and the like from the brine prior to its introduction into thewater softening system.

It is another object of this invention to provide float valve andstrainer means which are not corroded by concentrated brine.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related 2,972,412 PatentedFeb. 21, v1961 ends, this invention then comprises the featureshereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the Theinvention is illustrated by the drawings in which the same numeralsrefer to corresponding parts and in which:

The invention is illustrated by the single figure of the drawing whichshows the float valve and strainer in vertical cross section.

Referring to the drawing, the float valve means com: prises a base 10adapted to rest on the bottom of a brine storage tank of a watersoftening system and desirably held, for example, by'clips. The base isprovided with a bottom wall member 11. A passage 12 extends from thecenter of the upper side of the bottom wall member 10 of the base to anouter side surface of the base wall. There the passage 12 is in directfluid communication with a suitable fitting 13 by means of which one endof a piece of tubing 14 is connected to the float valve means. Tubing 14is preferably formed of flexible synthetic resinous material, though itmay be formed of a metal resistant to the corrosive effect of brine. Theopposite end of tubing 14 is connected to' the throat of a venturi tube;

An integral annular projection 15 is provided on the top surface of thebottom wall of the base 10 around the opening at the inside end ofpassage 12. The projection 15 is centrally disposed with respect to theedge walls of the base. A resilient annular concave cup 16 having acentral opening 17 is fitted over the projection 15 to form a valveseat. A hollow spherical ball float 18 is adapted to rest in theresilient valve seat. The upper surface of base 10 is internallythreaded. A cylindrical cage retaining member 20 closed at its upper endto prevent escape of the ball 18 is, externally threaded at 21, aroundits lower open end, to engage the internal threads of the base and holdthe cage in place. A plurality of slots 22 or similar perforations areprovided in the walls of the cage member 20 to permit passage of brineinto the valve member. A screen 23 is preferably provided over theperforations 22 to hold back any excess undissolved salt in the tank andto strain out dirt, sediment, etc.

The inside diameter of the cage 20 is somewhat greater than the diameterof the ball float 18 and its length is preferably at least twice thediameter of the ball to permit the float to move freely in a verticaldirection away from the valve seat within the cage While at the sametime guiding the ball to insure seating of the ball in the resilientvalve seat upon withdrawal of the brine. When the tank in which thevalve means is located contains no liquid, the ball 18 rests in theresilient valve seat and is tightly held there by suction from theventuri, thereby preventing airfrom being sucked into the system. On theother hand, when the lower portion of the tank contains brine, the ball18 floats free from the resilient valve seat while retained within thecage 20 and thus keeps the valve open. As the brine is withdrawn duringregeneration the ball 18 descends with the level of the brine until itseats in the cup 16 and is sucked tightly into place.

' without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. The

specific embodiments described are given by way of example only and theinvention is limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

' 1. A float valve and strainer means which comprises a base memberhaving a bottom wall, a passage extending from centrally in said bottomwall through said base member and adapted to be connected to a suctionsource, a resilient annular cup-shaped valve seat adapted to be disposedabove said bottom Wall around the opening to said passage, a ball floatmember adapted to sit in said resilient cup-shaped seat, and aperforated retaining mem her over said ball float and connected to saidbase, said retaining member being generally cylindrical, closed at oneend and threaded at its opposite open end to engage threads in said basemember and being of a size to permit relative vertical movement of saidfloat ball, the perforations of said retaining member being covered withscreen.

2. A float valve and strainer means according to claim 1 furthercharacterized in that the parts thereof are composed of syntheticresinous material.

3. A float valve means for introducing liquid into a vessel andpermitting withdrawal of liquid from that vessel without withdrawingair, said valve means comprising a horizontal base member adapted torest on the bottom of the vessel, a central vertical passage in saidbase member, means in communication with said passage to con= nect saidpassage alternately to a source of liquid and to a suction source forwithdrawal of liquid, said valve means adapted to be wholly containedwithin said vessel with which it is used and connected to said liquidsource and to said suction source by tubular conduit means extendingwithin said vessel from the top thereof, a resilient annular cup-shapedvalve seat at the entrance to said central vertical passage, a floatball member adapted to seat in said resilient cup-shaped member, and aperforated vertically extending retaining member secured to said baseand around said ball float, said base member, connecting means, floatmember,cup-shaped member and retaining member being composed ofnon-corrosive material.

. characterized in that the perforations of said retaining member arecovered with screen. t

'6. A float valve means according to claim 3 further characterized inthat the parts thereof are composed or synthetic resinous material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS342,478 Tam a; May 25, 1886 583,735 Eppich June 1, 1897 1,306,150Kessle'r June 10, 1919 1,989,199 Hummert Jan. 29, 1935 2,784,733Martinez "Mar. 12, 1957

